The Masticator was started by two Minneapolis-area visionaries as a zine in the summer of 2004. Issue two was never realized, and half of its founding force moved to Brooklyn. Three years later, the electronic version of The Masticator has far eclipsed its single print-bound predecessor. Today, The Masticator posts art reviews, random urban snapshots, gentle political mockery, and other short articles on subjects like cars, fashion, and books.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

A Tragic History of the IDS Center

This is a form that is being distributed to the people who work at the IDS Center, the tallest building in Minneapolis. Click on it to view a larger version.

The IDS Center is 775 feet tall with 57 stories and it was completed in 1972. It was designed by Phillip Johnson. For a comparison, the Empire State Building is 102 stories and 1,250 feet without the spire.

The building was in the news recently when 52-year-old Fidel Sanchez-Flores, who was pushing snow off of the plexiglass roof of the Crystal Court, fell through and dropped three stories to his death. The Crystal Court is an enclosed atrium attached to the tower. It's featured in the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore show.

According to the AP, Sanchez-Flores, a former Marine, had premonitions:

"Fidel Sanchez-Flores told his niece last week to 'pray really hard' because he had a feeling that 'something is approaching,' his family said.

And he was unusually quiet Tuesday night, telling his wife, Vielka Molinar, that he loved her and would keep loving her after death. She said she asked him why he said that. He replied that he didn't know.

The AP says there have been two suicides in the IDS since 1996: a 30-year-old man jumped from the 51st floor and smashed through the Crystal Court in 2001 and a 32-year-old man somehow got out of the 30th floor to jump in 1996.